Thank you so much to Shan for the kindest support! You didn't ask for this, but I've translated an extra chapter just for you ^^ 

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What the heck? Noble Consort?! When did she become an Noble Consort, she's been in the palace for less than half a day, did anyone inform her?

Liao Tingyan was dumbfounded, but looking around it seemed like she was the only one confused. Not wanting to appear foolish, she quickly forced herself to adjust her expression and calmly responded with a yes.

Liao Tingyan looked at Sima Jiao, who was slightly leaning forward with one hand extended to her. Resigned to her fate, she lifted her skirt and walked forward. Fine, whatever makes him happy, he is the Emperor after all.

However, if her memory served her right, in the original novel, during the time the female lead was by the Emperor's side, she seemed to hold the rank of one of the Nine Concubines. Why in her case was it directly changed to one of the three Noble Consorts, an Noble Consort second only to the Empress?

Could it be the different treatment for obediently entering the palace versus being forced in after trying to escape?

Furthermore, considering Sima Jiao didn't have an Empress yet, this meant she had directly vaulted to the top position in the rear palace, an overwhelmingly cheat-like feeling.

Is the female lead's halo really this powerful? When Liao Tingyan walked to Sima Jiao's side and looked at that pretty boy face she had seen for many days now, she felt like an innocent viewer who had missed ten episodes of plot development, unable to connect to the context and left baffled.

"Sit beside me." Sima Jiao pulled her to sit next to him.

Liao Tingyan sat down stiffly. As she sat, her eyes involuntarily followed the delicious aroma to the table in front. It was filled with all kinds of delicacies that looked very appetizing. She was truly hungry.

But with Sima Jiao right next to her, she didn't dare to reach for the food.

Sima Jiao glanced at her calm expression and gentle face, suddenly saying: "If you want to eat then eat, aren't you hungry?"

Liao Tingyan thought to herself, she felt she had concealed it quite well, how did Sima Jiao discover her true thoughts?

He clearly looked like a murderous lunatic with a not-so-bright mind, but unexpectedly perceptive.

"Then...shall this concubine eat?"

"Eat." Sima Jiao looked at her with a smile.

His attitude was gentle to the point of being unnerving. Just as Liao Tingyan extended her chopsticks towards a plate of crispy fried meatballs, a terrifying guess suddenly struck her - Sima Jiao's tone was so gentle, could it be that this meat was some strange meat?

It couldn't be...human flesh, right? Given Sima Jiao's vile character, it wasn't impossible.

Liao Tingyan's wild imagination scared herself, her chopsticks stopping in midair.

Sima Jiao observed her expression, suddenly leaning close to her and lightly saying in her ear: "Why aren't you eating, do you not like this dish?"

Liao Tingyan didn't respond. Sima Jiao then turned to ask the nearby eunuch, "The Noble Consort doesn't seem to like it, who made this dish?" His voice was chilling, a complete 180-degree turn from just now.

Liao Tingyan thought: With such a frightening tone, could it be he's going to kill someone again?

With that thought, she steeled herself and picked up a meatball, putting it in her mouth.

The crispy aroma instantly filled her oral cavity. Biting into the crunchy exterior revealed juicy, savory liquid inside, absolutely delicious. Liao Tingyan could also taste that it was venison.

Sima Jiao propped his chin up, watching her eat. He reached out a finger to turn her face towards him, smilingly asking: "Is this venison meatball tasty?"

Liao Tingyan felt his hand was frighteningly cold, like a block of ice. But she was naturally heat-averse and not very cold-sensitive, so she fearlessly swallowed the meatball and replied: "It's very delicious."

Sima Jiao quickly let go, resting his hand on the armrest. "You heard, the Noble Consort says it's not bad, reward them."

The eunuch by his side bowed. "Yes, Your Majesty."

Sima Jiao looked at Liao Tingyan again. "Have some more."

A palace maid was about to step forward to serve Liao Tingyan, but Sima Jiao said: "Did I tell you to serve the Noble Consort?"

Hearing this, the palace maid collapsed to the ground in fright, her face drained of color as she trembled, not daring to utter a word. These palace servants all understood His Majesty's temperament.

At a time like this, begging for mercy would only lead to a swifter death, because His Majesty would find the clamor irritating. Immediately kneeling down silently like this, there might still be a sliver of hope for survival.

Liao Tingyan was not yet accustomed to such scenes - a Sima Jiao whose face could change at the drop of a hat, and a group of palace servants and beauties who were scared half to death even if Sima Jiao breathed a little loudly.

No wonder the atmosphere here was so oppressive, everyone seemed a bit neurotic - it all boiled down to Sima Jiao. Just hearing his malice-filled tone made one feel he was about to kill someone. No wonder they all feared him, and frankly, she was starting to feel afraid too.

She had been chewing on a meatball, but Sima Jiao's fright made Liao Tingyan choke. She covered her mouth, coughing.

She felt an icy hand stroke her back. The sensation was like a forked-tongue snake crawling up her back. Sima Jiao's hand patted her back as he said softly by her ear: "What are you afraid of, I wasn't berating you. Just eat properly."

Liao Tingyan couldn't speak, only able to shake her head. Bro, even if you're not talking to me, hearing your freakishly scary tone is terrifying, okay?

Seeing her shake her head, Sima Jiao furrowed his brows in annoyance, irritably saying to the palace maid: "You may go."

Prostrating on the ground, the palace maid kowtowed gratefully and quickly left.

Although unsure why Sima Jiao didn't lash out, not having to directly face someone's death still made Liao Tingyan let out a small sigh of relief as her coughing gradually subsided.

Suddenly, a chill touched her face. Sima Jiao stroked her cheek, somewhat displeased as he knitted his brows. "Losing your appetite at the sight of a dead person, how delicate you are."

Liao Tingyan recalled what she had said to him in the carriage, feeling quite uncomfortable. Generally speaking, most normal humans would lose their appetite upon seeing a corpse. She, a heroine who could sit beside him unflinchingly munching on meatballs, and he called her delicate?

Liao Tingyan was utterly shocked.

Sima Jiao, seeing her expression, leaned back in the broad armchair and swept his gaze over the other beauties in the hall who had been ignored for a long time. "If you don't believe me, ask them and see if they can still eat after seeing a dead person. You're definitely the most delicate one."

She originally thought she was already weak, pitiful and helpless enough, but when Liao Tingyan's gaze fell upon the rows of beauties on both sides below, she discovered that these beauties seemed even weaker, more pitiful and helpless than herself. Upon hearing Sima Jiao's question, almost every one of them had an expression of fear that they couldn't suppress.

That kind of miserable sight of desperately trying to appear calm but trembling uncontrollably at the sight of Sima Jiao made Liao Tingyan feel a sense of pity.

But even though they were so frightened, they still had to answer in unison according to Sima Jiao's words, "We concubines can eat."

Liao Tingyan could almost imagine that scene. If Sima Jiao was unhappy and killed someone, the beauties would be forced to watch, not daring to vomit or make a sound. Sima Jiao would even force them to continue enjoying delicacies in front of the corpse. After many times, they would be forced to get used to it.

Too miserable.

Her face felt cool again. Sima Jiao rubbed against her cheek and lazily said while propping up his head, "You see, aren't you the most delicate one?"

Liao Tingyan had nothing to say. At this time, she saw some beauties secretly stealing glances at her. Sitting up here, she could clearly see all the little movements of the people below. Liao Tingyan also looked at those few beauties a few more times.

At this moment, Sima Jiao asked, "Noble Consort, what do you think of my harem?"

Liao Tingyan thought: What do I think? It's probably like a group of sheep being kept beside a wolf. Because the wolf is eyeing them covetously and could bite them to death at any time, they can only huddle together trembling. It's truly a bizarre scene.

With her qualifications of having read countless palace fighting novels and watched palace fighting dog-blood TV dramas in her previous world, she couldn't even comment.

But she couldn't say that. She could only smile, then speak softly, "The beauties each have their own merits and their appearances are all quite outstanding."

Sima Jiao waved his hand, "They are all incomparable to you."

Liao Tingyan thought: Hehe, of course. Just look at the appearance setting of this female lead. If she didn't look like a fairy, after eloping with someone against the imperial edict in the original story and getting caught by you, she wouldn't have been directly spared from death.

"Does Noble Consort like these beauties?"

Liao Tingyan became alert. What did he mean by that? She felt that no matter if she said she liked them or not, it could lead to some bad result. For a moment, she actually had the illusion of playing a strategy game, and the two options in front of her now both led to a tragic ending.

After pondering for a moment, she replied, "I like peace and quiet, and the beauties are all very gentle and quiet."

Good, that's right. This indirect answer could be used offensively or defensively. Perfect.

But she still couldn't grasp Sima Jiao's tricks, because Sima Jiao smiled at the people in the hall and said, "Since Noble Consort likes quietness, then you must not disturb Noble Consort's peace."

With these words, the hall that was already silent became even more so quiet that a pin drop could be heard. People almost stopped breathing.

Liao Tingyan felt that if she ate with Sima Jiao every day, she could probably lose ten jin in a month. She reasonably suspected that all the beauties below might have stomach problems—being played with by Sima Jiao like this during meals, whose stomach could take it?

"Your Majesty, do you have no appetite? Why haven't you moved your chopsticks?" In order to eat this first meal in peace, Liao Tingyan plucked up courage to ask. She really hoped he would hurry up and eat something and shut up to stop scaring people.

The devilish Sima Jiao was stunned by her question and showed a listless expression. He looked at the dishes on the tables with disgust and said, "I have no appetite. These dishes are unappetizing."

Liao Tingyan really wanted to criticize this fatuous emperor. He was picky about such delicious food?

In the past few years at Hexia, she had rarely eaten anything more delicious than these dishes. With this level of culinary skill that could conquer a modern person like her who had tasted all kinds of delicacies, Sima Jiao was still being picky? It was really too awesome being an emperor.

"Then what does Your Majesty usually eat?"

Sima Jiao frowned, "I don't remember. I'll say when I'm hungry."

Liao Tingyan really admired him. With Sima Jiao's reckless attitude, even if the male lead in the original story didn't kill him, he probably wouldn't live long. Such a casual lifestyle was simply slow suicide.

Sima Jiao stared at her, "What, do you need me to accompany you to eat before you can eat?"

Liao Tingyan thought: ... I didn't, don't talk nonsense.

She was about to explain when Sima Jiao picked up his chopsticks, "Forget it, I'll eat a bit with you."

Liao Tingyan saw that the middle-aged eunuch beside Sima Jiao, who always had a smile on his face, showed an uncontrollable look of surprise upon seeing this, as if Sima Jiao had done something amazing.

Liao Tingyan mused, it's just eating, is it that exaggerated? Could it be that Sima Jiao really doesn't eat? Looking at the beauties below again, they actually all showed surprised expressions, even though they quickly lowered their heads to hide it. Liao Tingyan saw it.

Liao Tingyan: "..."

Sima Jiao ate two bites of food and threw down his chopsticks, as if eating a little was asking for his life.

Are you that five-year-old brat at my cousin's house who doesn't like to eat and needs three people to coax him to eat a meal? Liao Tingyan thought to herself.

After finishing this dinner that she didn't know how to describe, the beauties automatically and consciously took their maids back to their own palaces. A maid with a higher rank led a team of palace servants to Liao Tingyan, knelt down to kowtow and pay respects, "This servant Guiye pays respects to Noble Consort."

The palace servants behind her also knelt down to pay respects.

Sima Jiao swirled his wine cup and pointed at Guiye, "She will serve you. Go."

Under the escort of Guiye and the others, Liao Tingyan arrived at a huge palace by the water and was invited into the inner chamber. Palace servants came and went to prepare her bath and bedding. Lying alone on the soft bed, touching the smooth silk quilt, Liao Tingyan showed a relieved smile.

Great, Sima Jiao indeed had no intention of sleeping with her, just like in the original story! Yes, in the original story, during the time the female lead was by Sima Jiao's side, Sima Jiao never slept with her.

As for why he didn't sleep with her, the original story didn't explain. There was a segment of "you love me, why don't you believe me" entanglement between the male and female leads regarding whether the female lead had actually been slept with by Sima Jiao, which made her heart tired from reading.

Now Liao Tingyan also had no intention of exploring the reason. In any case, it was best if Sima Jiao didn't sleep with her. At least she could rest well at night. She pulled the quilt to cover her head, curled up under the quilt and closed her eyes to sleep relaxedly.

Author's note:

The male and female leads both think the other's brain doesn't work well.